Like Father Like Son
by mastermage
Summary: It's a SmallvilleEvangelion fusion (knowledge of Smallville is not necessary). I'm not saying more.
1. Prologue

Like Father Like Son

An Evangelion/Smallville Fusion

Prologue

Martin Stevens pulled his thick coat tighter around his lean form as another gust of wind made him shiver and wondered for the hundredth time that day why it was always him who got the crappy assignments.

It had sounded simple enough: Find a fourteen year old boy, who also happened to be the commander's son by adoption

That was a year ago, and now he had ended up in the Chinese mountains without knowing a single word of Chinese and following the only lead he had into a little village that did not even have a name..

'I swear, once I find the kid I'm gonna strangle him for putting me through this!'

Fighting against the wind he slowly made his way through a small village, which was covered in pearly white snow even though it was not even November. Than again, in heights over 12,000 feet the snow tended to stay all year.

'I hate this place'

The depressed man was stopped short from cursing everything in existence when someone tugged on his right arm.

His guide, a short unsavoury man who did not seem the least bit bothered by the chilly wind was pointing at a house further down the street.

Martin nodded and dug some money out of his pocket.

"Thank you."

The man smiled, revealing rotten teeth.

"Thank you, Mister Stevens! It was a pleasure doing business with you. Have a nice day."

Martin did not answer. He did not like the man at all and had to wonder how someone with his language skills ended up as the rotten individual he was.

'Not my problem. I just hope the kid is really here.'

Making his way to the door his 'guide' had indicated he knocked sharply.

Moments later the door opened to reveal a teenager with dark brown hair. He said something in Chinese and Martin shook his head.

"Are you Shinji Ikari?"

The boy's dark blue eyes widened

"Who are you?"

Martin did his best to contain his glee at having finally found his quarry and extended his hand, a custom from his land of birth he still had not quite gotten rid of.

"I'm Martin Stevens. You father sent me."

The boy looked confused for a moment but shook his hand after a moment.

Once both withdrew their hands Martin winced slightly; the kid had a very firm grip.

"Why does he want to see me now?"

Martin shrugged.

"I don't know. I must insist you come with me, though. I have to follow my orders.

For a moment it looked like he might refuse, but then Shinji gave a short nod.

"Give me a few hours and I'll be ready."

Martin exhaled as Shinji invited him in and the door was shut behind him.

Outside the storm was just starting.


	2. LFLS1 Starting a Journey

* * *

Like Father like Son

Chapter 1 - Starting a Journey

Shinji shielded his eyes from the glare of the sun as he stepped out of the train into the heat. The train station was deserted and he briefly wondered if this was the wrong stop, but the sign hanging from a nearby post confirmed that he was indeed in the Tokai district.

'Maybe Mr. Stevens made a mistake?'

Sighing at his misfortune Shinji walked to the nearby phone and produced a scrap of paper on which the number of his ride was scrawled.

Yet, as he took off the earpiece, only a monotonus electronic voice greeted his ears.

DUE TO AN EMERGENCY ALL PHONELINES ARE OFFLINE. PLEASE PROCEED TO THE NEAREST SHELTER

Shinji forced himself consciously to relax the hand holding the phone.

'I've got a feeling this day will only get worse. Maybe I should just find a shelter.'

Course of action resolved Shinji walked out of the train station and once again noticed how deserted the city was. Abandoned cars were littering the streets but no one was around.

It gave him a very bad feeling.

Suddenly a flash of blue caught his eye and his head whipped around.

A girl his age was standing in the middle of the street, her red eyes boring into him while her mob of blue hair was not affected by the slight breeze at all.

'Strange.'

A fluttering noise of some birds taking flight forced his attention away from her for a mere moment, yet the girl was gone when he looked in her direction again.

'Where is she? Did I imagine that? Maybe she...'

Further contemplation was made impossible when a gigantic...thing appeared from behind a building. The monstrosity looked vaguely humanoid with long spindly legs and arms as well as a narrow midsection, which contrasted sharply with the protruding hipbones and the things broad chest. The face-like mask sitting over the bright red sphere imbedded in the monster's chest merely strengthened Shinji's sense of unreality.

Reality crashed into him again when the first missile soared over his head, ruffling his hair.

In moments the giant was covered in explosions, the sound of which almost deafened Shinji, but it took no harm.

A spindly arm was lifted and what looked like an energy lance speared one of the swarming VTOLs, which had surrounded it from all directions.

When the burning hull came rushing towards him Shinji turned tail and ran.

Moments later the VTOL crashed into the street with a loud crash, bits of metal flying in all directions.

No one was around to witness the destruction.

* * *

Misato Katsuragi swore as she rounded another corner at break neck speed, only to find the street empty, save for the burning wreck of a VTOL.

'I swear I'll never ever volunteer for anything ever again in my life'

Another wreck hit the road not 50 feet from her location.

'NEVER'

Misato did not make a habit out of being late; her father had raised her to be punctual, after all. Yet, her father was also the cause of her tardiness: He had had a heart attack the day before and she had been a little preoccupied with herself this morning and forgot the time.

Misato gripped the wheel a little tighter. There was no use thinking about it, she had to find the boy. She sped around another corner and glimpsed something out of the corner of her eye. Ripping the steering wheel around, Misato did a hundred eighty degree turn at full speed, causing the tires to squeal in protest.

Misato barely noticed it.

She had found him.

Slowly driving back the way she came she stopped right next of him and opened the door to the passenger door.

"Sorry I'm late. Come on in! "

The brown haired boy climbed in, closed the door and fastened his seatbelt all in one motion without saying anything.

Misato ignored it and drove away from the monster. No sense in staying any longer than they had to.

After several minutes of driving her passenger still had not said anything and Misato frowned.

"I'm Misato Katsuragi, you know the woman who was supposed to pick you up? You can talk to me."

The boy glanced at her.

"Sorry Katsuragi-san, I'm just scared."

Misato smiled at him.

"Don't worry about it Shinji-kun. You have every right to be scared. It's not like you come face to toe with an angel everyday."

"Angel?" asked Shinji, completely ignoring her little joke.

"Yeah that's what we call them."

Shinji did not say anything else and the two of them kept driving in silence until they had cleared most of the city.

As Misato stopped the car on a lookout to see what was going on with the angel, she had to wonder who spoke less: Shinji or his father.

Shinji for his part tried his best not to stare at the pair of breasts dangling right in front of his face as Misato leaned over him with her binoculars.

"Why are they...Oh my god, they're gonna use an N2 mine! Get down!"

The next moment Shinji found himself shoved down with Misato on top of him.

Seconds later the shockwave hit and the car was turned over several times with both of them simply holding on for dear live.

After everything was silent again they climbed out of the car.

"Is everything all right, Shinji-kun?" asked Misato

"Not even a bruise Katsuragi-san."

"Good. Now let's turn over the car. We need to get to NERV. Oh, and Shinji-kun, please call me Misato."

Shinji looked surprised for a moment but joined her at the car a moment later.

Misato braced herself alongside him and gave him a nod.

"Push!"

With a loud crash the car settled back on its wheels and Misato blinked. That had been easy.

Shinji was smiling brightly.

"You sure are strong Misato-san."

Misato smiled in return, shoving the incident to the back of her mind for the moment.

"Beware of my strength Shinji-kun. Come on now, we need to get going."

* * *

Nearly an hour later they arrived at NERV HQ and Shinji once again glanced at the pile of car batteries behind him.

"Are you really sure this is all right Misato-san?"

Misato controlled her urge to growl but her voice was still dangerous when she spoke.

"First my car, which I still haven't paid, gets banged up, then my favourite dress is ruined with it and now I have a teenager questioning my decisions. What did I do to deserve that?"

Shinji winced slightly.

"You're still looking very good in your dress, Misato-san"

Misato looked at him sharply.

"You're not trying to hit on me are you?"

It was about then that Shinji realized what he had said and spluttered.

"I ...no...of course not Misato-san...I just wanted to cheer you up."

Misato laughed.

"You need to loosen up a little Shinji-kun. I was only teasing you."

Surprisingly Shinji stayed silent, staring straight ahead.

Misato halted the car after driving on the train that would bring them to their destination and frowned.

"You know, you're no fun at all...not nearly as cute as I thought you would be."

Once again Shinji stayed silent, ignoring her completely.

Before she could make another try to provoke a reaction from him Misato noticed that his right hand was clenched tightly and he was shaking visibly.

'What the hell is wrong with him? I was only teasing.'

Even when they entered the Geofront Shinji was not roused out of his funk. The only audible sound was the steady humming of the engine.

* * *

Fifteen minutes later Shinji stood silently next to his purple haired guide, having calmed down somewhat while reading the handbook about NERV she had given to him.

He knew he had overreacted in the car, but a lifetime of being taunted and teased had made him very sensitive to any kind of it, no matter how friendly.

"Do you know what your father does Shinji?"

Shinji blinked. He had to give it to Misato, she was very persistent. She had tried to get him to speak again several times, and he thought he had sulked enough now.

"I don't know."

Misato shook her head. Gendo really was a bastard.

"He is the commander. He runs this place and as much as I hate to say it, I don't think he called you for a nice father son talk. "

Shinji sighed.

"I figured as much."

Silence reigned again, until Misato spoke once more.

"Now that you're speaking with me again, what got under your skin back there?"

Shinji gave her a hard look.

"I do not like being teased Misato-san. I do not like it at all. Please remember that."

"I'll try not to do it anymore then." she responded, while adding silently that 'not liking' was something of an understatement considering his reaction before.

* * *

With the tension between them gone, the rest of the way to wherever they were going was a lot more comfortable and Shinji kept reading the NERV manual at a normal pace.

The last thing he heard before being plunged into darkness was the closing of the last door they had passed.

"Misato-san, what happened with the light?" asked Shinji with a hint of nervousness in his voice. He was not scared of the dark, but he still liked light a lot better.

"I'm working on it." said Misato from slightly behind him while obviously searching for something. "There!"

The next moment he looked up into a huge purple face and blinked.

Misato stood next to him and looked up as well.

"So, what do you say?"

"It's ugly and purple and I am one shock short of jumping off a bridge."

Misato grinned.

'So you do have a sense of humor, eh?'

"Sorry about that. I don't know why the lights were out."

Before Shinji could make any kind of answer, a voice boomed from above.

"That is Evangelion Unit 01. I need you to pilot it and defeat the angel."

Shinji looked up to find his father sitting behind a pane of glass several meters up in the steel wall looking just as imposing as he had the last time.

"Hello father. Why do you need me to pilot it?"

"Because no one else can." said Gendo in a matter of fact voice.

Shinji turned and regarded the purple head in front of him silently, burying any kind of emotion his father's cold request had produced.

He could admit to himself that he had never been so afraid in his entire life. This was not just something he could smash into the nearest wall and be done with it.

Yet, he doubted his father would call him if someone else could do it and fear was no excuse for letting some kind of monster kill innocent people.

Taking a deep breath he once again looked at his father, his face a mask of stone.

"I shall pilot for you father."

* * *

Shinji took several deep breaths to get his thundering heart under control, the sensation of LCL in his lungs still new and uncomfortable. It had taken all his willpower not to break out of the entry plug when it was first flooded and his body was still telling him that he should be dead.

In the background he heard one of the technicians say something about activating the lift and suddenly he was pressed into his seat.

The next moment he was on the surface with the angel's back right in front of him.

"Release final safety locks!"

A dull clunk was heard as the last thing holding the Eva upright vanished and the behemoth slumped forward slightly.

"Shinji-kun, try to concentrate on walking." Said the blonde who had ordered the plug flooded not too long ago.

He did as he was told and watched in wonder as the robot took a step forward with the right foot. The left foot soon followed and he could only watch horrified when his timing was off and he fell. He crashed into the ground face first, the concrete crumbling underneath the EVA's weight.

Screaming came over the speakers, but he ignored it while trying to clear his head.

'Why did that hurt?'

Before he could get back to his feet he felt like something grabbed his head and his EVA was yanked off its feet.

The angel, holding him up with one arm, grabbed his right wrist and squeezed.

Pain, a sensation that was almost alien to him, engulfed his whole being and all he could do was hold on.

Someone screamed for him to fight back and that it was not his arm the angel was breaking, but his nervous system did not seem to care.

With a sickening snap his wrist gave way.

The angel was not done though and suddenly something slammed into his eye and it was all he could do not to pass out.

Several more times his eye was hammered and Shinji gladly embraced the darkness that swallowed his vision as he felt his back hitting a building.

* * *

The first thing he felt when regaining consciousness was the LCL in his lungs.

"I'm...alive?"

Not really believing what he had said Shinji slowly opened his eyes to find total darkness.

"Circuits reconnected"

"Synchrograph back to normal"

"Pilot life signs confirmed"

That and several other technical reports he did not understand flitted over his awareness, but the only thing he noticed was that he could once again see the outside.

He saw his...no the robots reflection in the windows of the building he was standing next to.

A part of the armor covering the face was missing and his eyes widened when recognizing the substance underneath as flesh.

Where there should have been an eye...his eye, only a hollow socket remained.

Yet, even as he watched flesh boiled and in a grotesque satire of birth, a new eyeball was formed.

It stared at him.

He stared at it.

He stared at himself.

He was the monster.

The next moment he closed his eyes and retched.

* * *

Only when the entry plug was opened and the LCL drained from his lungs did Shinji open his eyes again.

Retching into what he breathed had not helped his stomach in the least and he had trouble to stop dry heaving.

A hand landed on his shoulder.

"You all right kid?" asked a kind voice.

Shinji slapped the hand away a little forcefully.

"Don't touch me!" Fear and disgust was coloring his voice.

"You have to get out of here so the medics can make sure you're okay. That was a pretty rough ride after all."

Shinji whirled around and glared at the black man who was speaking with him.

"I don't need a medic! Just let me out of here."

The man frowned slightly but stepped back so he could climb out.

Personnel was swarming the catwalk and Shinji roughly pushed his way through, not once looking back at the man who had only offered his help.

The safety of the locker room was the only thing he was thinking about.

* * *

Misato glanced at Shinji for what must have been the hundredth time in the last ten minutes only to find his face just as blank as before.

Immediately after he had exited the plug Ritsuko had tried make a medical check up on him but he had refused steadily and Misato was sure it would have gone past words had she not interfered.

Whatever was going on, it seemed Shinji did not like being probed.

'Then again, a few eccentric episodes are to be expected after piloting a biomechanical robot out of the blue.'

Right now they were arranging Shinji's quarters and Misato had to congratulate Gendo Ikari for his unreachable level of bastardness once again when she heard Shinji was to live alone.

Her father had taught her not to make impulsive decisions, but seeing the husk of a teenager standing behind her she decided to hell with it and made a decision.

"I think he's better off living with me. Don't you think so?"

The man behind the desk swallowed.

"Of course, but you should ask permission from above first."

Misato shrugged and whipped out her cell phone. After a few rings someone answered with 'Akagi' on the other end.

"Ritsuko. I'm taking Shinji in. I don't think it's a good idea for him to live on his own."

If you think you can handle a teenager, be my guest. He can use a little stability in his life

No more was said and Misato closed the line.

"It's all taken care of." She said, once again addressing the man while already walking away.

Shinji walked next to her without saying a word.

Misato suppressed her urge to sigh.

'What does it take to get a reaction out of that kid?'

Said kid was currently too preoccupied to care. He understood that it was a very nice gesture of her to invite him, a complete stranger, to stay with her, but with the last 12 hours still vivid in his mind he could not even summon the simple courtesy to thank her.

'It's a wasted effort anyway. Once she finds out about me any kind of relationship we will have established will break, so it's only wasted energy to be polite'.

* * *

Misato waited until they had exited NERV before speaking again, hoping a little distance from the place would get Shinji to open up again.

"You don't seem very happy about living with me."

"It's not that Misato-san. It's probably nice to live with you."

"What's bugging you then?"

Shinji smiled bitterly, a gesture Misato caught only out of the corner of her eye while driving.

"I think you will understand soon enough."

"Do you mind driving somewhere else before going home?" She said, quickly changing the subject.

"Sure."

"Good. I promise you'll like it."

* * *

Several minutes later they stood on a lookout, the city of Tokyo 3 stretched out before them.

Shinji was leaning against the railing while Misato stood a few feet back, watching him.

"It's nice here. I like the silence, but we had a better view back at the village."

Misato walked up next to him.

"Just a moment longer, Shinji-kun."

She had not even finished her sentence when a klaxon was heard and buildings started to rise out of the ground.

"Awesome!" Said Shinji with the most enthusiasm Misato had ever heard from him.

Both kept watching until the last building had grown to its full height and Misato was almost shocked when Shinji gave her a 1000 Watt smile.

"Thanks for showing me Misato-san!"

"I think you deserved to see this; to see what you have helped save today."

His smile dimmed a little, obviously because he did not relish the memories saving the city had given him.

"Thanks Misato." He said and walked back to the car "I think we should go home now, though."

Misato followed suit, her lips curving slightly upwards. Shinji had closed up again, but she had seen a glimpse of the teenager slumbering underneath the broody exterior.

* * *

Misato opened the door to her apartment with a flourish and smiled at Shinji.

"Welcome to your new home. You may take advantage of everything you see, but me."

Shinji frowned slightly at her teasing, but stepped through the door nonetheless.

"Home." He breathed while knowing deep down it was not home. Home was a place where you felt safe and comfortable and neither had ever held true for a place since his adoptive mother had died.

Shinji pulled of his slippers and looked around, totally ignoring the frown he was sure was gracing Misato's face at his behaviour. At first glance the place seemed rather normal: not to clean, but not to dirty either.

While he was taking in the living room Misato came up to him and pointed down the lone hallway.

"Come on, I'll show you your room first, it's just down the hall."

Shinji nodded and followed.

They passed the first door in the hall and Misato opened the second one, revealing a room that only contained a desk, a bed and several drawers.

It was a lot more luxury than he had gotten used to the last three years.

"I know it's not much, but you can always decorate it like you want."

Misato quickly explained after seeing his confused look.

"You got it all wrong Misato-san. That's a lot more space and decorations than I had hoped for."

Misato looked baffled for a moment but shrugged it off.

"Oh well, in that case I'm glad you like it. Come on, lets get a bite to eat now and afterwards you can take a bath to relax a little."

Shinji gave her the second real smile since their first meeting.

"That would be really great Misato."

* * *

Some time later Misato was relaxing on the couch while drinking a beer. She did not indulge herself very often, but on eventful days like this one it helped her to clear her mind.

Even that was too much in her father's opinion and Misato swore to herself she would stop drinking completely if her father only recovered from his heart attack.

Further contemplation of her father's condition took a backseat when the bathroom door flew open and Shinji, clad only in a small towel came out.

Misato blinked at seeing him half naked.

'What the hell?! I can't believe he is hiding all that muscle under his clothes!'

"Misato? There is a penguin in your bathtub."

Misato forced herself to look up in his face and grinned.

"That would be Pen-Pen. He's your other roommate"

That moment Pen-Pen came walking out of the bath and waddled straight to his fridge and gave Shinji the Penguin equivalent of an accusing stare before closing the door.

Shinji stared at the shiny surface of the fridge for a moment before summing up his thoughts on the matter.

"...Okaaaaay. I think I really need a bath now."

The next moment the teenager was gone again and Misato tried to banish his image out of her mind, all the while wondering just what a teenager had to do to get such a body at age 15.

Of course, that was only a small part of the mystery that was Shinji Ikari, but answers were hard to come by because his profile was pretty incomplete.

'Several different guardians over the years, all of which refused to keep him after a few months and attendance to even more different schools. That's pretty much everything and not once a mention just why.'

The most interesting information came with the last lines:

-Left country at age 12

-found near Tschamdo/China

Misato rubbed her eyes. Obsessing about it was no use anyway.

She would find out the 'why' sooner or later.

* * *

End chapter 1

* * *

Author's notes:

Nothing to say, save for the fact that, from now on, I will answer every review in my life journal if it is warranted.


	3. LFLS2 First Impressions

Like Father like Son

Chapter 2 – First Impressions

Shinji looked around the classroom for what seemed like the thousandth time that day and sighed.

Nothing had changed.

The boys were still dreamily listening to the teacher while the girls took notes dutifully while glaring at the boys whenever they could.

That had been the same routine since his first day in school.

In some ways he understood why the guys kept staring at their teacher all day long.

Lang-sensei was one of the most beautiful and graceful women he had ever seen, after all, but staring at her had to get boring after the first days, right?

Besides, Shinji found his new teacher had far more to show than just her perfect face or her long mane of black hair: It had been nearly 3 years since he had last been to a public school, but he could not remember school ever being this interesting or funny.

Of course, that did not mean he was unhappy when the final bell rang and another day of school ended. As usual he picked up his satchel and made his way to the door.

"Shinji-kun, I would like to speak with you."

Shinji blinked and turned around to see Lang-sensei looking directly at him and he wondered what he had done wrong this time.

Making his way back to her he employed his best puppy face in hopes of getting out of whatever trouble he had landed in this time; it had helped from time to time.

"Yes sensei?"

His teacher chuckled a little.

"You can drop the puppy face Shinji-kun. You didn't do anything wrong."

"What do you want to talk about?" asked Shinji a little confused.

"Well, you've been here nearly a whole week now but I have yet to see you speaking with someone. Is everything all right?"

"Everything is fine sensei." He said, "I don't mind being alone."

Lang-sensei gave him a long stare that clearly said she did not believe him but she did not say anything else in the matter.

"If you say so, Shinji-kun" she said, "Run along and get home."

Shinji did just that and excused himself.

Once the teenager was gone Lana Lang released a depressed sigh. She had been a teacher for nearly 14 years now, but that was a case she had never had before. Usually it took newcomers one, maybe two days to get a few friends they would start hanging out with, but so far she had not even seen a glimpse of a conservation involving Shinji even though he had been here a whole week.

Looking out the window she saw her daughter waiting at her car to be driven home and a devious smile formed on her lips.

Her daughter did a lot of things for an allowance raise

0000000000000000000000

Laura Lang tapped her foot impatiently as she waited for her mother to get out of the school.

She was not an impatient person by nature, but her mother was almost always punctual and it sucked that the day she wanted to go shopping with her friend would not be one of them.

After a time that seemed like an eternity but had only been three minutes, according to her watch, the new student came walking out, shortly followed by her mother.

Her mother had the typical 'I-know-something-you-don't-but-I'm-sure-you're-going-to-like-it-look' and Laura couldn't help but grin.

"Hey mom, what's up?"

Lana gave her daughter a bright smile.

"Well, let's just say you may get a raise in allowance if you do me a little favour."

Laura's eyes gleamed.

'Jackpot!'

"And what would that little favour be?"

Lana pointed across the school yard at the lone figure marching out.

"You know the new student right?"

"You mean the cute guy sitting two seats behind me?"

"Yes. If you can get him some friends I'll raise your allowance another 200 Yen."

Laura gave her mother a wicked grin.

"Sure thing, mom. He is seriously cute after all."

Lana gave her a stern look.

"Friends young lady, nothing more! If I catch you making out with him you can kiss your allowance goodbye."

Laura shrugged.

"I never said anything about making out. I just think he will be easy on the eyes. This is going to be so much fun!"

Her mother merely shook her head and opened the door.

Moments later they were on their way home.

0000000000000000000

Shinji coughed sickly as the LCL was once again ejected from his lungs and wondered if he would ever get used to the vile liquid. So far he had been in the EVA every single day of the week and it had not helped at all.

Having calmed down his protesting lungs he climbed out of the plug to get home as fast as possible.

He was already out of the EVA bay and halfway down the hallway to the lockers when he caught sight of the black technician who had tried to get him out of the plug after the first angel and he could not help but feel a little guilty.

In a way it was kind of ironic that he still was not able to treat other people like they treated him when they found him out.

The guy was crouching down and working on bundle of cables hanging from the nearby wall and from the way he was fiddling around it was clear he did not enjoy his work right now.

"Mister?"

The man whirled around and held a hand over his heart.

"Jesus kid, don't scare me like that!"

Shinji winced.

"Sorry mister. I just wanted to apologize for last week. I shouldn't have screamed at you. You only wanted to help after all."

The man stood up and smiled at him.

"Hey, no problem. I would have been out of it after an experience like that as well."

"I still would like to make it up to you somehow Mister..." he left the sentence hanging.

The technician caught on and held out his hand.

"Lang, Pete Lang."

Shinji shook it and smiled.

"Shinji Ikari."

Pete smiled in return and crouched down to his cables again.

"Nice speaking to you Shinji, but right now I need to get back to work. You don't have to make it up to me."

Shinji cocked his head to the side and looked at Pete speculatively.

"Lang-san? Were have you been these past days? Aren't you normally working on the EVA?"

"I did, but the commander doesn't think I'm up to it anymore."

Shinji raised an eyebrow. Now he was getting somewhere.

"And what reason does he have to assume that?"

There was a long pause before Pete spoke again, obviously not sure if telling him was a good idea.

"Well, it seems he does not think someone who can't get a teenager out of a plug and to the doctors is not fit to work in the pilot's vicinity and so he gave me a new job: I'm now making sure the lights are working right everywhere."

Shinji's temper flared a little bit.

'So father thinks it is alright to abandon a four year old but if someone can't get a teenager to do something he is unfit to handle one? What a hypocrite'

"Who?" asked Pete bewildered and Shinji realized he had said the 'hypocrite'-comment out loud.

Shrugging it off Shinji grabbed Pete's arm and lifted him to his feet.

"The commander, who else? I think we'll go and have a little chat with him."

Pete looked panicked for a moment, the thought of meeting the commander again overriding his shock of being lifted up by a teenager almost half a head shorter than him like it was nothing.

"No way! I'll lose my job for sure!"

Shinji ignored him and kept dragging him in the general direction of Gendo's office.

"Listen Lang-san, my father is the last man on earth who has any right to tell you how to handle a teenager and I'm going to make sure he knows that. You will get your old job back."

0000000000000000000000000

Pete Lang was normally a very optimistic person, but standing in the dark looming office of the commander with a teenager that was also the commander's son gave even him a bad feeling.

Currently he was standing at attention while Shinji and Gendo stared at each other coldly.

After nearly two minutes of silence the older Ikari broke the silence with his commanding voice.

"I do not have time to waste, pilot. What do you want?"

"I want you to give Lang-san his job back." said Shinji in a surprisingly soft tone.

"That is not an option. He is clearly unable to cope with the situations working near the pilot will most likely cause as he has shown after the first angel." said Gendo in a flat tone.

"Says the man who is unable to handle a small child, let alone a teenager." Responded Shinji with the first sings of anger lacing his voice.

"No."

"I will stop piloting if you don't."

Shinji delivered his threat in such a casual manner that Pete almost choked and he could not help but evaluate his opinion of the young man upwards once again. He barely knew him and yet Shinji was willing to go that far to get him his old job back.

"We have another pilot." Followed the commander's response in the same icy tone he had used before.

"Maybe, but you need me, otherwise you would not have sent for me."

By this point Pete was almost sure he saw Gendo's left eyebrow twitch.

"I shall ignore your childish display of insubordination if you stop this nonsense now, pilot."

Shinji stayed rooted to the spot.

"Give him his job back."

"I shall not yield to the wishes of a child!" said Gendo in a voice that was clearly agitated.

Sensing victory Shinji took two steps and slammed his hands down on the huge mahogany table his father was sitting behind, causing everything standing on it to jump a little.

"Just jump over your goddamn shadow and give him his job back!" Shinji shouted with frustration in his voice.

Pete was sure Gendo would blow a casket any moment, but suddenly a hand fell on the commander's shoulder and Pete realized Gendo's second in command, Kozo Fuyutsuki, had been lurking in the shadows all this time.

"Consider your request granted pilot. I am sure this was all just a misunderstanding. Mr. Ross, I expect you at your old workplace tomorrow at eight. You are dismissed."

Shinji glanced at Fuyutsuki, probably evaluating the man, before nodding and marching out.

Pete wasted no time in following him and once the steel door glided shut behind them he whooped.

"I don't believe it. You're a really swell guy Shinji. How you stood up to that bastard was awesome."

It was about then that Pete realized Shinji was slumped against the wall.

"You ok, kid?"

Shinji smiled weakly.

"Well, save for the fact that I just lost 10 years of my life in there I'm ok."

Pete gave a mock bow and smiled.

"I think I'm gonna love working with you, pilot Ikari."

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Laura Lang followed the new student at a distance after the bell rang and was not at all surprised when he made his way to the roof. The silent ones always did that.

After waiting a few minutes to make sure it did not look like she had followed him she opened the door to the roof and stepped through. Her quarry was leaning against the railing not too far away to watch the students milling back and forth in the yard.

"Want some company?" she asked out of the blue.

The new student merely glanced her way before focusing his dark blue eyed gaze back down.

"What are you doing up here?"

"What does it look like? I'm trying to get the new guy to open up to his classmates."

Finally he turned around to face her and gave a questioning look.

"I don't mind being alone, so why don't you go back down to your friends? Believe me, hanging out with me isn't much fun."

Laura cocked her head to the side. She had to admit this one was a hard case. Usually the new ones were shy, but they never rebuffed you if you spoke with them. Of course, Laura Lang lived for nothing if not for a challenge.

"I think I'm the one who should decide whether you are fun to hang out with or not."

The new one shrugged and indicated the place next to him.

"In that case, be my guest."

Laura stepped up next to him and braced herself against the railing. From here the talking students sounded like a pleasant hum in the background.

"So, how about introductions? I would hate to call you 'new kid' all day long."

"I'm Shinji Ikari. Who are you?"

"Laura Lang. And yes, our teacher is my mother."

Shinji glanced at her.

"Who said I was going to ask about it?"

Laura waggled her finger at him.

"Don't try to deny it. Everyone asks the same questions, Shinji."

Shinji shrugged.

"I'm not everyone."

Both of them stayed silent for a few moments before Laura spoke again.

"Why don't you tell me a little about yourself? Why did you move here, where did you live and so on?"

Shinji stopped watching the students below and turned his back to the railing, his arms folded over his chest and Laura did it likewise.

"I don't think telling you is a good idea."

Laura pouted cutely.

"Don't be such a spoilsport! We have to talk about something after all." she said indignantly.

"There's nothing you can do about it."

Laura thought for a moment and glanced down at her bento, still untouched.

'What I do for some guys!'

Opening the boy that held her delicious meal inside she waved it in front of Shinji's face and she almost burst out laughing when his stomach growled.

"Of course, if you won't speak with me than I can't offer you some of my bento like a good friend would. See you around."

She had not even taken the first step when he spoke up.

"That's really underhanded, you know? You should become a lawyer or something."

Laura smiled brightly; she had heard quite a bit of humor in his voice, showing that Shinji was not a lost cause yet. The game was not over though.

"As a good lawyer I must ask you again if we have a deal."

Shinji's stomach growled loudly and Laura smirked.

"I'll take that as a yes."

They settled against the railing and Laura put down the bento between them, but before handing Shinji a pair of chopsticks she gave him an urging look and Shinji sighed in defeat.

"You're really stubborn, you know that? Well, I guess I can tell you a few things."

Laura merely handed him his chopsticks and motioned for him to go on.

"I've been living in China for nearly three years after running out on my latest guardian."

Laura blinked.  
"You ran out on your guardian? To China?"

Shinji gave her a piercing look.

"No questions, all right? I'll tell you what I feel comfortable with and that's it."

Laura merely kept quiet and Shinji took that as a yes.

"To make a long story short, I ended up in the Chinese Mountains in a small village near Tschamdo without any kind of knowledge of Chinese. It was really scary. Fortunately an old guy who lived alone and also knew Japanese took me in so I could help him with the hard work living in a mountain village entails. In return he taught me Chinese. "

Shinji paused for a moment, seemingly collecting his thoughts.

"As to how I ended up here, well, that's a little harder to explain. My father sent someone after me who dragged me back here. I didn't have the slightest clue why he wanted to see me until I found myself face to face with this freaking purple robot."

"You don't mean?" asked Laura in disbelief.

Shinji nodded seriously.

"Yeah, I'm the guy who piloted one of the things that rampaged through the city a week ago."

"Wow, that's awesome! I'm friends with a hero now!" exclaimed Laura in a high pitched voice.

Shinji gestured for her to be silent.

"Laura, I would really appreciate if you kept this to yourself."

"Um...sure...Having a hero all to myself is even better after all." She said and heard his stomach growl again, "You can dig in now. You told me a little bit after all."

Shinji looked relieved, but Laura doubted it was because of his soon to be filled stomach.

Both of them spent the reminder of the break eating with Laura telling Shinji about what was going on at school, while Shinji kept avoiding her questions about his prior school life.

All that made it very clear to Laura that Shinji was a very mysterious person...her kind of person.

'I just love discovering secrets!'

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The next day found Laura dragging Shinji through the school yard towards a girl Shinji recognized as the class representative, Hikari Horaki.

Unlike in class she was currently smiling and Shinji briefly wondered if she was truly the same girl. Her freckles and the twin ponytails indicated that she was, though.

Introductions were not needed because Hiraki had been the one who handed him his schedule and they still remembered each other. Instead she gestured to the ground next to her.

"Sit down Shinji. I'm not going to bite, no matter what everyone else says."

Shinji managed to smile back weakly and sat down thankfully, only to have Laura sit down on his other side.

He tried to ignore the fact that he was sitting between two very beautiful girls and opened his bento, which he had made himself. There was no way he would share a bento with Laura in front of the whole school after all.

He felt, more than saw, Laura's disapproving stare but ignored it. He had told her it was a bad idea from the beginning.

"You don't have to be so shy around Hikari, Shinji. She may be the class-rep but she's a fluffy kitten underneath that hard exterior. Besides, she already has her eyes on someone else!" said Laura from his left, obviously trying to lighten the mood.

Of course, Hikari's reaction was very predictable, even for him.

"Laura! I've told you I don't want anything from Toji!"

Laura leaned over, invading Shinji's personal space without noticing, and smirked.

"Oh? Then how did you know I was talking about Toji?"

Hikari's only answer was a slight blush and Shinji decided for himself that Laura was obviously right about this Toji guy. That was no reason to let Hikari wallow in embarrassment, though.

"Is she always like this?" He asked while pointing at Laura, who was still smirking.

"Yeah, so you better get used to it."

Lara folded her arms over her chest and frowned.

"Hey, it helped break the ice didn't it?"

Both Hikari and Shinji realized it was true and laughed.

The rest of lunch break was spent chatting away happily.

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Her phone rang and she groaned.

'It's past midnight, damn it! Whoever it is better have a very good reason for calling!'

The phone rang another three times before she managed to roll over in bed and grab the receiver.

"What?!"

You sound irritated Miss Sullivan. Spoke the smug sounding male she would recognize anywhere on the other end of the line.

"Oh, I'm so sorry about that, but being woken after midnight always kills my day." She fired back with as much sarcasm as possible.

A dry chuckle was heard on the other end.

Judging from you sharp tongue you're still awake enough Miss Sullivan. I have a new job for you.

She perked up somewhat. Any jobs he had for her usually involved investigation, but they did come with a hefty reward and most of the time she could make a story out of it.

"What do you have?"

You will get all the details per e-mail. I must ask you to refrain from making a story out of this one though. He said matter-of-factly.

Chloe frowned.

"No story? Sorry, but that's not in our..."

You will get 2 million dollars. He cut in.

She could only gape.

'2 million dollars?'

Please be ready by tomorrow.

A click was heard and the line went dead. She placed the receiver back on the handle and stared straight ahead into the darkness of her apartment.

Whatever her boss had found, it was big.

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End chapter 2

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Author's notes:

Don't look at me like that. I changed the break lines to 0000000000000 because doesn't accept my old style anymore. shrug

Also, please remember to check my livejournal for answers to your reviews.


	4. LFLS3 I Hate Pink

Like Father Like Son

Chapter 3 – I Hate Pink

Toji Suzuhura stormed into the classroom with all the anger and hurt he was feeling, much to the relief of his friend, Kesnuke Aida, who had obviously wondered where he had been these past two weeks.

"Toji! Where have you been, man? I thought the angel got you!"

Toji shook his head at his friend's inquiry.

"No. My sister was hurt though, and since my dad is working all day I stayed with her. I swear, if I find out who piloted that robot he's gonna be in a world of hurt! The nerve of that guy to destroy the city he's supposed to protect!" he said with frustration.

"Ouch...sorry man, I didn't know."

Toji shrugged.

"That ain't gonna help my sister."

Kensuke seemed to ponder something for a moment before pointing at a guy sitting several seats down. Toji had never seen him before.

"See the new transfer student?" Kensuke asked, and continued without waiting for an answer "Rumor has it he's the new pilot. Just imagine if that was true!"

As Kensuke started out on his techno babble Toji tuned his well-meaning friend out and stared at the back of the brown haired boy, who was currently talking quietly with Laura.

'For your own sake, I hope you ain't the pilot buddy!'

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During lesson Shinji was very distracted. He had overheard Toji before the lesson and could not help but feel guilty. Intellectually he knew he could not have done anything else, untrained as he was, but that did not help a lot.

Suddenly his laptop informed him an instant message for him had arrived.

Are you the pilot?

He stared at the words, wondering how anybody could even suspect it was him. Only Laura knew about it and he trusted her enough to know she had not said anything. Nobody did something like that to someone they assumed was relatively normal, after all.

Are you? Y/N

For a moment he contemplated saying yes, but a lifetime of keeping secrets and having them exposed had taught him well.

No he wrote back, pure and simple.

No further message arrived and the lesson proceeded as usual.

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During lunch break Shinji was once again sitting with Hikari and Laura, eating his bento, when Toji came marching up the hill.

"Hey new kid, I need to speak with you in private!" the boy hollered well before reaching them.

Shinji gave Laura and Hikari an apologetic look before standing up and following Toji.

Soon they rounded the corner of the gym, cutting of their view from the rest of the school yard and showing that Toji's friend, Kensuke, obviously knew about this because he was already waiting behind the gym.

Toji turned and looked him over a few moments with a critical eye before asking what he wanted.

"Are you the pilot?"

It was a simple question with an even simpler answer, but the undercurrent of hate and frustration was almost palpable to Shinji. Nonetheless he thought at least Toji deserved the truth.

"Yes."

Toji's eyes widened slightly. Obviously the boy had not really expected this answer.

Surprise quickly turned to anger though, and Toji stepped up to him threateningly.

"Nothing personal man, but you hurt my little sister. Now I'm gonna hurt you."

Shinji did not bother denying what Toji had said. All he could think of was the love he must have for his little sister.

"Go ahead, then." he said, his throat strangely parched.

Toji hesitated a moment, obviously put off by his answer, but swung his fist nonetheless.

It connected solidly with his jaw.

Shinji barely felt anything but rolled his head with the punch. He did not want to hurt Toji, after all.

For a moment neither of them said anything and Toji stared at the still standing Shinji.

Suddenly the larger boy fell to his knees, cradling his right hand in his left and cursed.

"God dammit, that was like hitting steel."

As Kensuke knelt down at Toji's side Shinji turned around to walk away, only to stop short.

Rei Ayanami, the other pilot of NERV, was standing before him. She had been back to school since yesterday but he had not spoken to her yet, partly because she radiated an aura that screamed 'indifferent'. If there was a person more introverted on the planet than him, he was sure it was Rei Ayanami.

He was all the more surprised when she spoke to him.

"Pilot Ikari, we are needed at NERV"

"Why?" he asked, wondering what was important enough for Rei to initiate conversation.

About then the klaxons started going off.

'Well, that answers my question' thought Shinji dryly as he started jogging after Rei.

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Shinji inhaled deeply, once again getting used to the feeling of LCL in his lungs, and marched towards the angel.

Over the COM link he heard someone announce that Rei had finally arrived and Misato once again appeared in a small communication window.

"I'm really starting to wonder how you got here so fast Shinji-kun."

Shinji shrugged.

"I took a shortcut."

Of course he had not taken a short-cut and he knew that Misato would not believe that, but the statement made very clear he did not want to discuss the matter right now.

Misato obviously got the point and focused on their operation.

"The angel should become visible once you crest the mountain in front of you. Once you see it, neutralize its AT-field and take it down with your rifle just like in training. "

Shinji acknowledged her orders made his way up to the mountain. He was nearly 3 miles from the city limits now, and only the fact that the umbilical cable did not reach any further prevented him from engaging the angel even sooner.

The moment his head cleared the mountain he saw it: It looked like a hot dog with a heart shaped head and two protruding shoulder bones to which some kind of whips were attached.

It was also pink from head to toe.

Now normally Shinji would have laughed when seeing something that ridiculous, but even a deformed hot dog gets scary if it is forty stories high.

Instead only one thought ran through Shinji's mind.

'Ugh...I hate pink!'

By now the angel was near enough and Shinji raised his rifle, firing of a long volley that hit the target straight on, hiding the angel from view thanks to the smoke.

"You idiot! Only fire short bursts to make sure your target stays visible!" screamed Misato over the com shortly after he had expended his last shot.

Shinji had just enough time to wonder why people at NERV always told you things after you needed to know them before a purple tentacle shot out towards him from the flames and he had to dodge.

He didn't make it in time and it hit his rifle, cleaving it in half.

Once again the angel, now partly visible, lashed out and Shinji had to dodge again only to feel the tentacle wrapping around his ankle.

The next moment he was flying back towards the city and with a thunderous crash the EVA was buried halfway into the hill where he landed only half a mile outside the city.

He lay still after the landing, feeling his whole back protesting against the hard impact.

'Why isn't it working?' he asked himself and felt the first vestiges of panic rising in him when he noticed his umbilical cord had snapped on the landing.

He knew with his abilities he could have won easily, simply because he could react and move so much faster than the angel, but the EVA did not have then.

Shaking of his fear he gripped the controls as hard as he dared and pried his torso out of the mountain.

It was about then that he noticed Toji and Kensuke cowering between the fingers of his left hand.

It was also about then that the angel decided it had waited long enough and tried to impale Shinji with its tentacles.

Without thinking he grabbed hold of the tentacles and pain flared in his hands.

He was barely aware of Misato's order to open the entry plug but opened it anyway.

Moments later two persons, who could only have been Toji and Kensuke, splashed into the LCL. After closing the plug he tried to throw the angel off, but the EVA reacted even more badly than before.

Somewhere, in what seemed like a distant place, someone said 'thought noise' made synchronization harder.

He bent his whole will to the task of moving and suddenly the angel was hurtling away from him.

"Retreat to the base and let's try again." ordered Misato.

He activated the progressive knife and ran towards the angel.

"Hey, didn't you hear what she said?! You have to retreat!" screamed Toji into his ear.

He kept running, his mind and body were on autopilot, he felt almost removed from reality.

Two sharp points of pain speared through his abdomen when the angel drilled its tentacles into him, but he ignored it and slammed the progressive knife into the red core with all the strength the EVA could muster.

"We have 15 seconds of power" someone reported,"10...9...8...7...6...5...4...3...angel has gone silent"

Only when the EVA shut down and the steel grey wall of the entry plug replaced his vision did Shinji stop the scream he didn't remember starting.

Tentatively someone laid a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey? You ok Shinji?"

"Yeah...I am"

He knew no one inside the plug believed those words.

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"You have to obey my orders if you want to get through this alive!" stated Misato in her most controlled voice.

Shinji, who was sitting on a bench in the locker room, did not react at all. He was staring a hole into the floor.

"God dammit Shinji! You have to understand this!"

Finally he lifted his head and Misato saw a mixture of anger and sorrow on his face

"You're the one who has to understand, Misato-san, not me."

"What are you talking about now?!" demanded Misato, frustration evident in her voice.

"I didn't ask for this. I'm not a soldier Misato-san, I'm a teenager."

"And what do you want me to do about that? Coddle you like a baby?" asked Misato in a sarcastic tone, "This is a war and you're the only one who can fight it. You should act accordingly."

Abruptly Shinji stood up, his face an emotionless mask.

"Sometimes I think humanity would be better off dead."

With that last comment he left the locker room and Misato could only stand there gaping.

'Okay...I think you fucked up big time there, Katsuragi.'

The discarded Plug suit lying on the nearby steel bench seemed to agree with her.

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"You're worried."

Kensuke exclaimed while holding his camera directly in Toji's face. Toji had his class badass status to lose, so his reaction to that statement had to be recorded.

"I'm not worried, ok? I'm just saying Shinji didn't look so hot when we last saw him!" said Toji while trying to look like he really didn't care.

He failed miserably.

"Sure thing Toji. And I don't wear glasses either."

After Kensuke's last comment Toji crossed his arms over his chest and stayed silent. Nonetheless a certain class rep had overheard their conversation and quickly came over.

"Suzuhura-kun, Aida-kun. I heard you talking about Ikari-kun. Is there something I should know?"

Toji winced, hearing from her tone that Hikari was in interrogation mode. Kensuke on the other hand found it the perfect opportunity to have some fun.

"Oh, you know, the usual. Toji kinda punched the new kid right before the alarm started and now he's worried he hurt him."

Hikari looked horrified and angry at once.

"You punched him?! Why did you do that?! Maybe that's the reason he didn't follow us into the shelter yesterday!"

Toji waved his hand back and forth in a warding gesture.

"Now wait a sec class rep. That punch hurt me more than Ikari. Damn near broke my hand punching him! I'm more worried about what happened afterwards."

"What else happened?"

Suddenly Toji grew quite nervous.

"Ah...well...when we said we had to go to the toilet yesterday we kind of sneaked out to watch the battle and ended up in the robot from our side. Ikari piloted it, just like the first time. I punched him because my sister got hurt in the first battle. Anyway, he killed the thing, but the way he screamed was scary."

Hikari's eyes widened

"Ikari is the pilot? You punched the pilot!" she whispered, only to start screaming a moment later, "SUZUHURA-KUN, SOMETIMES I CAN'T BELIEVE THE NERVE OF YOU!"

Before the boys could be blown off their feet by Hikari's shouting, Laura dragged her friend back to her seat.

"Calm down Hikari. I'm sure Shinji-kun is all right."

Just then Kensuke noticed that Shinji was in the room and his classmates, who had overhead their little talk with Hikari, were storming towards him.

The pilot was giving several of his classmates a stare that clearly said: 'I'm in a bad mood, so I suggest you piss off'.

Surprisingly the teenagers also recognized that look and Shinji walked to his desk unhindered and gave only a court nod to Lara and Hikari in passing.

Kensuke had always thought Shinji was as sullen as you could get, but the way the boy was acting now showed clearly that was not true. Kensuke could only guess at the dressing down the pilot had received to get him into such a mood and he could not help but feel some pity...not that their own reprimand had been any better when that hot lavender haired chick had screamed at them.

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Shinji frowned while following after one of the boys who had been in the EVA the other day, Kensuke, if he remembered correctly. The moment lunch break had started Kensuke had insisted on dragging him off to somewhere and Shinji had grudgingly excused himself from Laura and Hikari to follow after him.

His frown deepened when they rounded the corner of the gym to arrive at the place where Toji had punched him the day before. Unsurprisingly the guy was standing there once again.

Shinji could not stop his frown from converting into a full blown scowl.

'I swear by god, if he wants to give me more crap about his sister I'll explode!'

The boy winced when he caught his expression and looked down; he was twiddling his fingers.

"Hey Ikari...you know...about yesterday, I kinda wanted to apologize for punching you. "

Shinji did not loosen his expression.

"Oh? And what caused that sudden change?"

Toji winced again.  
"Well, for one, I'm really thankful you saved us out there. Seems you're looking out for people when you can and as my little sister put it 'I'm an idiot for thinking it was the pilot's fault.' Anyway, I think you deserve a crack at my jaw as well...so we will be even."

Shinji felt the frown leaving his face and smirked.

"Believe me, you don't want me to punch you. Your apology is accepted, though. If that's all, I'll go back now."

"Hey!" said Kensuke, who had been standing off to the side the whole time, said. "Maybe you would be interested in some friends? I'm sure hanging out with girls can't be good for you."

Shinji regarded both boys.

"Was that an offer?"

Both nodded uneasily and Shinji smiled.

"In that case, you're welcome to join the girls and me for lunch. I'm sure they won't mind too much."

"So, you up to it Ken?" asked Toji with concern in his voice

"Hey! I'm not the one the class rep is always picking on. You should be more worried about yourself!"

"Nah...she's only a girl. What could she do? Let's get going"

Decision made the trio walked away and Shinji could not help but feel a lot more optimistic.

Listening to Kensuke and Toji made him jealous of the way they saw life as a game, but he was also pretty sure sulking would be impossible with these two around...that counted for a lot in his book, even if it would not last long.

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Lex Luthor stared at the screen in front of him in frustration. This latest bit of information his spies had delivered confused him to no end.

'Why the hell would dad sent Chloe to Japan?'

With every other person Lex would have sent a spy of his own to see what his father was up to, but when Lionel Luther sends Chloe Sullivan to do a job and pays 2 million to see it done Lex knew that something big is up.

Something so big, that it was probably best dealt with personally.

He leant back in his seat.

'I always wanted to take a vacation in Japan anyway and if nothing else, this will prove interesting'

In the back of his mind Lex had to wonder why Chloe had to be sent to Tokyo 3, though. He knew his father had spent millions for the organization that was called NERV since joining the 'committee', whatever that was.

Lex had never been able to figure out why his father of all people would throw his money away like that to sponsor an organization like NERV ...and if Chloe had something to do with it, this would be a perfect way to find out.

"Katherine, please book the next flight to Tokyo 3 and get me a decent hotel to stay at for the next week." He said while pressing the intercom button.

Of course, Mister Luthor. came the immediate reply and Lex couldn't help but smile.

He had taught his secretary well...she never asked unnecessary questions.

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"Mister Luthor, if I may ask, why are we taking those experiments up again? I thought you had abandoned this direction of research years ago?"

Lionol Luthor, smiled one of his customary false smiles that clearly told you he knew a lot more than you did.

"Let's just say I like to be prepared, Doctor Neubert."

The doctor frowned, but did not say anything else. Even though Lionol Luthor showed every sign of age with his deeply creased face, a frail figure and hair that was only kept brown with chemical help he was not to be crossed.

Lionol ignored his frown and turned to walk out.

"I have to take care of some business now. I expect your first report in a week."

As the door shut behind Lionol the doctor sighed and regarded 'them'. About 50 sleeping men and woman were floating in a huge tank filled with the same liquid NERV used in its Evangelions and even though all of them were murders and rapists and what not, he could not help but feel pity for them.

What Lionol Luthor wanted done was an atrocity...an atrocity he was willing to commit if it meant his daughters stayed safe.

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End chapter 3


	5. LFLS4 Observation

Like Father Like Son

Chapter 4 – Observation

Chloe Sullivan sighed for what must have been the thousandth time that day and took another sip from her coffee.

'This is soooooo boring!'

When she had first discovered Lionel sent her to investigate one of the Evangelion pilots she had been very happy. After all, someone who pilots a war machine had to have some interesting past times or character traits, right? Unfortunately Shinji Ikari turned out to be boredom incarnate. For someone who had run away from his guardian to make a living for himself in China, the kid sure was not very adventurous.

The most interesting part of the day had been when he had cooked dinner with a skill that would put most professionals to shame; admirable, but nothing to get worked up over.

Finally the light in his room was turned off and Chloe stood up from her crouched position to get some kinks out of her back.

"This is such a waste of time! Just what does Lionel think is so interesting about that kid, aside from the obvious?" she asked herself out loud as she put away the binoculars she had used to spy on the kid. She had planned to spy on him twenty-four hours a day and had even rented a place on the other side of the street from were she had been watching, but it seemed the young Ikari was a normal teenager

Nonetheless Lionel would not have sent for her if he really was, so she needed to figure something else out.

Chloe eyed her bed longingly and succumbed.

'There is always tomorrow.'

Two minutes later she was asleep, still fully clothed.

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Shinji stared at the piece of plastic in his hands like the apocalypse was coming.

"I don't think this is such a good idea ."

Ritsuko waved it off and paused to eat another morsel; Shinji's cooking was really good.

"You don't have to Shinji-kun, but I think you should try to get to know your fellow pilot

better, right?"

Shinji sighed and finally pocketed Rei's new ID card. Ritsuko had forgotten to give it to Rei and found the invitation to dinner at Misato's place the perfect way to get Shinji to do it. She did not want to see that…girl more often than necessary.

Dragging her thoughts away from the albino, Ritsuko instead focused her attention on eating. It was not everyday she was treated to such a feast.

When everyone finished eating, Ritusko finally breached the subject she had wanted to discuss for quite sometime now.

"Shinji-kun" she said and the boy perked up "I wanted to apologize for my behaviour after you first piloted. You were under a lot of stress and it was wrong to pressure you for a medical, but…"

"…you need to do check up nonetheless" cut Shinji in, his voice flat, "Sorry, but no medical for me. If you want me to do a few exercises to show you I'm healthy, I'm in, but you can forget anything else."

Ritsuko contemplated having the boy strapped to an observation table by Section 2 for a moment but discarded the notion. They did not need to make an unwilling pilot even more unwilling.

"If that is all I can get, I'll take it; How about on Thursday after tests?"

Shinji smiled at her.

"That would be all right Akagi-san. Thank you for accepting my decision."

Ritsuko cracked a smile of her own, but could not help cringing inwardly. Gendo would not be happy about this at all. He had wanted his son checked thoroughly from day one.

Nearby Misato clapped Shinji on his back.

"See! I told you the two of you only hit it off on the wrong foot. You father is really the only old bastard in NERV. The rest of us at least qualify as human."

Ritsuko thought she saw Shinji's face darken a moment after Misato's last comment and she had a feeling it was not because Misato had insulted his father.

The expression vanished so quickly, though, that Ritsuko was not sure she even saw it.

After another hour of pleasant conversation, which Ritsuko used mostly to embarrass Misato with a few anecdotes from college, it was time to escorted her to the door while Shinji vanished into the kitchen and once the boy was out of sight Ritsuko allowed a look of confusion to wash across her face.

"You know Misato, I'm surprised. There have been tons of opportunities to tease Shinji instead of getting teased by me but you didn't use a single one. When he stared at Rei's picture I was almost sure you would tease him for it."

Misato shrugged as she opened the front door.

"Saying he is very sensitive about that kind of thing is still an understatement. When he first arrived and I teased him he didn't speak with me for several hours."

Ritsuko blinked.

"Wow, that kid sure has issues. He doesn't want a medical; he doesn't want to be teased. It's really annoying we know so little about him."

"Tell me about it."

"How is your father coming along?" Ritsuko asked.

Misato's face darkened a little.

"They say he's over the worst of it, but they aren't sure when he'll wake up. All I can do is

hope."

"Then I suggest you spend a little more time at home. I would think Shinji felt pretty unwelcome what with you almost never being here." Said Ritsuko in a tone she hoped did not sound patronizing.

Misato still winced at the hidden barb.

"I know taking him in was a bad idea considering what is going on, but throwing him out now won't earn us any points either. I'll try though."

Ritsuko nodded in approval.

"Good night Misato."

"Good night."

When Misato shut the door and she was bathed in darkness Ritsuko let out a depressed sigh. Just this once she was not looking forward to her daily 'meeting' with Gendo.

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Later that night Shinji crept out of his room towards the kitchen. He winced when his stomach rumbled loudly.

'Why the hell am I so hungry? I've eaten plenty for dinner!'

His stomach rumbled again in disagreement and Shinji opened the fridge to find a bite to it held nothing that appealed to him at the moment and he shut it again.

'I need some real food. I heard McDonalds opened a shop somewhere…'

A moment later the boy had vanished and the front door closed with a click.

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The next day during lunch Toji, Kensuke, Laura and Hikari stared at the mountain of cafeteria food Shinji dropped to the ground after coming out of the dreaded place.

"You're not going to eat all that, right?" asked Toji a little nervously. Cafeteria food in these quantities was potentially deadly.

Shinji's gave him a fevered look.

"I am." He said and ripped open what looked remotely like a sandwich.

Toji smirked.

"I bet you 500 yen you won't eat that all."

Laura shook her head.

"Shinji-kun, you really shouldn't eat all that. It can't be healthy."

Shinji swallowed the rest of the sandwich and held out his hand.

"You're on!"

Soon his friends watched in mute wonder how the mountain of food was quickly reduced and decimated to nothing in less than 10 minutes.

Needless to say Toji was very shocked by this development, but he handed over the money. Shinji's stomach rumbled again and everyone stared some more.

"Don't tell me you're still hungry after that!" asked Laura disbelievingly.

"Nah, not really hungry, but a little snack would be nice."

As Shinji jogged away to get something else to eat Kensuke summed up the situation.

"And I thought you ate a lot, Toji."

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Shinji pressed the bell lightly, but was not surprised when he heard nothing. It was probably broken, just like the rest of the building he was in. The place was a dump. The corridors smelt old and rotten and the paint was peeling from the walls almost fact that his fellow pilot, Rei Ayanami, was supposed to live here even made him forget that his stomach was once again telling him it needed food.

His eyes fell on the overstuffed mailbox and for a moment he thought he was probably at the wrong address, but after checking again the slip of paper the doctor had given him still said the same: Apartment 402.

He tried the handle and was surprised when the door opened without complaint.

'She doesn't even close the door?'

The next shock followed suit when he entered the apartment, if it could even be called that.A short hallway, which contained the kitchen the right side, led to a larger room that was nearly bare. A single bed, a fridge and a drawer were everything he could see…aside from the waste and filth covering everything, that is.

'How can anybody live like that?' he wondered, before finally remembering why he came here in the first place.

He called out Ayanami's name again, but got no answer.

Shrugging he placed the card down on the drawer and got a closer look at the pair of glasses lying on top of it; they looked like his father's. Resisting his urge to get an even closer look he decided to do something useful instead.

'Now, where do I get something to clean that much filth?'

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Five minutes later Shinji smiled in triumph as he looked over his handy work. The carpet looked freshly bought now and every surface was practically gleaming. Even the bed covers had been changed and the mail box was empty.

'Sometimes it has its advantages to be a freak.'

Shouldering his satchel he prepared for a nice long walk home and some more food.

Therefore, almost running smack into a dripping wet Rei Ayanami came as quite a shock.

The girl merely stared at him and Shinji would have been unsettled if it wasn't for the fact that it was not the first stare directed his way during his years. He was also trying to figure out how he could have missed the door leading to the bathroom all this making sure he had his wits together, despite being in close proximity of a dripping _naked_ girl, he spoke.

"Um…hey... asked me to give you your new ID card; it's lying on the drawer next

to the glasses."

The way she simply brushed past him made him wonder if she even heard. She also did not comment on the newly cleaned apartment and merely dropped her towel, which she had used to dry her hair, to the floor to get dressed.

Shinji was not sure if he kept staring at her because she looked hot or because this was _really_ disturbing.

"Aren't you going to say something?"

Rei closed the top button of her school uniform and grabbed the new ID-card and walked towards the thought he wouldn't get an answer once again when suddenly the girl stopped directly in front of him, her red irises bored into his head.

"You did not have to clean my apartment, nor did you have to deliver my ID card."

It was said as a fact, but Shinji could almost hear the question behind it.

"Well, you know, with us being fellow pilots and all I think we should watch out for each other…"

He trailed of, not sure if she even understood, but she nodded and proceeded past him.

"Thank you, Ikari-kun" she whispered shortly before leaving him alone in her apartment.

The surreal moment was broken by Shinji's growling stomach.

'Boy, I'm hungry.'

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*RIP*

Shinji winced at the sound of tearing fabric and hesitantly pulled his shirt off. The large hole between the shoulders could be seen even without closer examination, testament to the fact that the shirt was too tight around the shoulders.

Considering it had fit perfectly not three days ago, Shinji had every right to be freaked out.

A short trip to the bathroom later confirmed his worst fears: he had grown another inch over night and put on an additional 7 pounds. That made 3 inch and over 20 pounds in three days, something he _knew_ was not possible for humans.

'I really am a freak.'

It was not that he was bothered with the little bit of extra height and mass, even though shopping for clothes would be a pain in the ass. No, what bothered him were the reactions he would get from his friends. Heck, Laura had stared at him strangely the day before. What would she say now?

The health test he had promised for the same evening didn't sit very well with him either, right now; she would notice his growth spurt at once.

Pulling out the biggest shirt he had Shinji prepared for the day anyway. Better get it over with.

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Laura looked upwards into Shinji's face; that in and on itself was not all that notable. What was notable was the fact that she had been looking slightly down not three day ago. They had been talking in the classroom for a few minutes now and Laura had to say what had been on her mind since she first saw him that morning.

"Say Shinji-kun, you have grown quite a bit these last days."

Shinji shrugged, but Laura could see he was uncomfortable with the question.

"Yeah, I know. Talk about weird. Maybe that's the reason I ate so damn much these past days."

"Don't worry about it. Actually, your growth spurt came just at the right time." she said playfully," because Hikari and I need a big strong man to carry our bags this afternoon when we go shopping."

"I can't, I have tests this afternoon." answered Shinji in an apologetic tone.

Laura deflated slightly but shrugged it off.

"There is always another time."

Shinji merely nodded and regarded her with a conflicted look on his face.

'He isn't going to ask me on a date, is he?' thought Laura apprehensively.

"Aren't you the least bit freaked out about this?" Shinji asked finally.

Laura blinked in surprise, totally thrown off by _that_ question.

"What do you mean? Your little growth spurt?"

Shinji nodded seriously and Laura chuckled.

"Oh please, that's nothing Shinji-kun. You should hear some of the stories my parents are always telling me about their hometown. You may be a pilot and you may grow faster than Lionol Luthor's bank account, but Smallville has you topped in the weirdness department by a factor of 100"

Shinji smiled brightly after her explanation.

"That place sure sounds weird. Really makes this seem normal."

At that point Toji and Kensuke came into the classroom and the first boy did not waste any time before proclaiming.

"Damn, I could have sworn Ikari was shorter than me just yesterday; really weird, right Ken?"

Kensuke, who had started filming Shinji from all angles nodded.

"Yeah, really weird."

Laura noted with satisfaction, that Shinji did not lose his smile.

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"Report!" said Gendo in the coldest tone Ritsuko had heard from him in a long time. He was still pissed she had not given Shinji a full check up.

"What is he?" asked Ritsuko back in a voice that matched his for coldness.

"Dr. Akagi, I suggest you deliver your report instead of asking questions."

Ritsuko grit her teeth. She had not expected to get answers from Gendo anyway.

"The pilot is healthy in every aspect: regular breathing, no deformities, and perfect eyesight. Of course, the fact that his heart rate, nor his breathing changed after half an hour of running has me kind of worried." She bit out angrily.

"Dismissed" Gendo said and she stormed out of his office muttering under her breath.

After Ritsuko was gone Fuyutsuki Kozo stepped out of the shadows.

"Do you know what he is?" he asked in an inquisitive tone.

"No." Replied Gendo unexpectedly, but still emotionless.

"This may prove a danger to the scenario."

"Being able to run without strain does not make my son invincible. He will do what I called him for."

Fuyutsuki stayed silent and kept his council to himself.

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Chloe leafed through the thick file labelled with 'Nr. 135410'. Even after over 15 years working for Lionel it still surprised her how much unnecessary paperwork the authorities created sometimes. After half an hour of reading she still had not found anything interesting and the fact that she had to read the damn thing in the noise filled waiting room did not help matters.

'Sorry Ma'am, but I'm a little bitch so you have to read the file at the place were you probably can't do it anyway' she imitated the annoying woman who had given her the file in her head.

All of her irritation was forgotten when she turned to the next page. It contained the foster care protocol she had been looking for:

Case: Shinji Moto

Taken into care: 6th of August 2000

Biological mother: Chisato Moto

Biological father: Unknown

Birth name: Moto

Mediated on 24th of October 2000 to

Mother: Yui Ikari

Father: Gendo Ikari

New name: Ikari

Chloe did not read any further and whipped out her camera, quickly making a picture of the document. Once done she dashed to the counter, slammed the file down while ignoring the clerk and dashed out the door.

Now that she had the name of someone that was not Gendo Ikari and could still know something about Shinji Ikari she intended to get on with her job.

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While Chloe was dashing all over the city, the object of her observation, one Shinji Ikari, was doing a little research of his own. Since he could remember he had tried to find out why he was a freak and Laura had unwittingly given him the biggest lead ever when telling him about Smallville that morning. He knew it would have been logical to contact his biological parents first, but no one even knew his father's name and his mother could not be found so that option was out.

What he knew was that his mother had given him away saying something about freaks, or at least that was what the authorities told him, so he was pretty sure his father was the one who gave him his curse.

If that was true a name was not needed to find out who he was.

That was the reason Shinji was currently browsing through every page he could find that had any reference to Smallville.

"We closed down five minutes ago boy. I suggest you get going."

Shinji yelped in surprise and stared at the elderly woman behind him.

"I…sure...sorry for staying so long."

"Don't worry about it. I would suggest you stop reading such nonsense, though. This is a library, no reason to be reading about 'mutant freak sucks heat out of everyone' on the internet."

Shinji nodded meekly and made a beeline for the door, while internally thinking.

'You don't have any idea, granny.'

Once he was out in the open he pondered what he had found. The site he had viewed last was done by a 'Chloe Sullivan' and had been last updated over 15 years ago, probably because she had moved away from there or lost interest or some such thing.

Nonetheless it had been insightful. Smallville had spewed forth one 'mutant freak' after another for a few years. They were called 'Mutant freaks' because Chloe's theory was that the meteor rocks, remnants from a huge meteor shower, had changed them.

While the site had been very detailed about several cases, none came close to his abilities: One guy had sucked the heat right out of someone; a girl could make anybody age faster and kept young that way; another guy started acting like a spider with web and all and the list got longer and longer.

He had thought he found his father when he read about 'Superboy', who had thrown a car into the third story of his house, but he got disappointed when reading that he lost his powers shortly after.

Still, Shinji had to admit Smallville sounded like he _could_ have come from there. That was at least a start.

*Rumble*

'Now if only my freaking stomach would shut the fuck up'

*RUMBLE*

Sighing Shinji changed directions. McDonalds would make another small fortune that night.

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End chapter 4

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Those of you who visited my website, already know I finished this chapter a long time ago. I will post this and everything else I have on my site to because I don't intend to keep my own site running in the future. Unfortunatly the only versions I have of my stories are formatted for my website, which means it takes some work to make it readable for . Most likely I overlooked several things while changing the format, but I hope it isn't too bothersome.

Befor anyone is getting their hopes up : This will merely be a reposting of the chapters I already have. LFLS is still very much on hiatus.

Mastermage


	6. LFLS5 Big Pilot, Bigger Angel

Like Father Like Son

Chapter 5 – Big Pilot, Bigger Angel

Shinji stared mutely at the screen showing the inside of Rei's entry plug. This was the first activation test for her since Unit 00 had gone berserk a week before he had arrived. Misato had explained what had happened back then; how his father had scarred his hands trying to open the superheated entry plug to save Rei.

At first he had felt jealousy burning in his veins, but after thinking back to how she lived and acted Shinji wondered if he had any reason to.

On their way to Rei's activation test Shinji had asked her if she was afraid, but she had only questioned if he did not have faith in his father's work.

Of course he had answered 'no'.

Afterwards he had not been sure what was more impressive: The fact that _Rei_ of all people actually slapped him for that, or the fact that she did not wince when doing so.

Shaking himself out of his reverie Shinji paid attention to his surroundings once again. The countdown was already almost finished and the next moment the absolute borderline was breached.

'Unit 00 has been activated'

Shinji felt a tension he was not even aware of flow out of his body when nothing else happened. It seemed Rei's faith was well placed this time around.

That was the point the klaxons started up and suddenly his tension was back tenfold.

"Pilot Ikari, you are to pilot Unit 01" came his father's cold voice over the com.

Shinji stood up and quickly marched in the direction of the locker room.

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Pete Lang stared at the gaping hole in the EVA's chest in horror when it was brought in again only a minute after being released. The moment the last safety locks were secured he and his crew pried the hatch open, releasing a stream of steaming LCL from the plug.

Pete looked into the plug with dread.

"Hey kid, you alive?"

Said kid was already climbing out of the seat, seemingly not even noticing the residual LCL he was wading through on his way out.

"I'm Ok. Thanks for asking."

Pete leaned out of the hatch to allow Shinji outside and looked at the LCL questioningly. After a short debate he took of his gloves and stuck his finger in, only to jerk it out shortly afterwards.

'Damn that's hot, and he didn't even seem to notice!'

"Hey boss. Everything Ok up there?" asked one of his co-workers.

Pete climbed down the short ladder leading to the hatch and watched as Shinji shrugged off the attempts of several nurses and doctors to get him on a gurney.

"I'm just wondering something; is all."

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"Pilot Ayanami and pilot Ikari please report to the briefing room P032 in 30 minutes." Informed a pleasant female voice over the loudspeaker and Shinji reluctantly changed his course to head back from where he came from.

His pace was almost snail like as he made his way towards another unpleasant conversation. He knew Misato and Dr. Akagi would be there and both of them were not people he wanted to talk to.

The reason for this was mainly the transformation he had gone through over the last ten days. When he had delivered Rei's ID-card 7 days ago he had already been shocked by his three inch growth spurt, but that had turned into a monster growth spurt of 14 inches in the last 7 days. Shinji, who had been standing at a meager 4 foot 11 inches, was now 6 foot and 1 inch tall and had gained muscles in all the right places. All in all he could admit to himself that he was very pleasantly surprised. That did not change the fact that _everyone_ took notice of such a sudden change, though.

His friends in school had taken it in stride, something he was very thankful for, but Misato and Dr. Akagi had given him suspicious looks the last days.

Add to that the fact that he had just walked away from something that would have knocked out any other person for several hours and the briefing was sure to turn into a nice long interrogation.

By now he had arrived in front of the briefing room and sighed.

'Why can't I catch a break once in a while?'

As was to be expected no answer was forthcoming and Shinji opened the door. Misato, Ritsuko and Rei were already there.

The moment the doctor saw him she was in his face.

"What do you think you are doing? First you resist our medical team and then you go running off even though you know an angel is up there! "

"Listen, I'm OK, and even if I wasn't, your medic team couldn't do anything about it!" hissed Shinji, his patience with the doctor finally wearing thin. The moment the words were out of his mouth her regretted them though. Already he could see the question in the doctor's eyes 'Who are you?'

"Just don't run off again. Now about your next mission," said Ritsuko and changed the

subject, "We will utilize the experimental Positron rifle from the JSDF to punch through the angel's AT field. Unit 01 and 00 will take up position on Mount Futago. Shinji will fire the rifle, while Rei is there to protect him, should the angel return fire. The shield we will use for this can't withstand more than 17 seconds against such firepower, though, so it's doubtful if you will get the chance for a second shot. Be ready to sortie at 22:00, so we can check if everything is in working order before starting the operation."

As Ritsuko finished she walked out without another word. Misato followed suit, but turned

around before vanishing out the door.

"Good luck you two. And get some sleep before the operation"

Shinji grunted thanks, more than a little put of by Ritsuko's cold behaviour, and Rei stayed silent as usual.

"Ikari-kun?"

Shinji blinked. Rei initiating a conversation was certainly unexpected.

"Yes?"

"What are you?"

Shinji adopted his best faked confused look ever.

"What do you mean, Ayanami?"

"You did not suffer any ill effects from being submerged in boiling LCL; You managed to cover the distance from school to HQ in under a minute when the second angel attacked; You shrugged off a punch to the face from Suzuhura-kun and hurt his hand; You refuse to take a full physical. All this indicates that you are not a normal human, therefore I must ask: What are you?"

Shinji gaped at Rei, not sure what surprised him more. The fact that she actually took note of all this, the fact that she figured him out so fast, the fact she spoke over 3 sentences at once or the fact that all this was delivered with conviction but without any trace of disgust.

It was a very new experience for Shinji, one that threw him for a loop.

"I…don't know." he said a little depressed.

Suddenly Rei stood up and walked towards the door.

"You are not alone, Ikari-kun." She said hesitantly before leaving him alone in the room.

Shinji stared at the door.

'What did that mean?'

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'23:50, only 10 minutes more to go' thought Shinji with equal amounts of relief and dread. He dreaded a second confrontation with the angel, because even though the boiling LCL had not hurt him, the feedback from his EVA had been horrible. He was relieved because the unique brand of boredom sitting in an entry plug for hours on end can cause, was finally getting to him.

On a whim he opened a com link to Rei.

"Rei, why do you pilot EVA?"

"Because I am bonded to it."

"Bonded?" asked Shinji confused

"Yes, it is a bond."

"To my father?"

"No, to all people."

That did not make any sense to him at all. How Rei Ayanami could bond with people by piloting EVA was probably something he would never understand, but he could say one thing for certain.

"You're very strong, Ayanami."

"I have nothing else."

It sounded like she tried to say she only piloted because she had nothing else to do and Shinji blinked.

"Don't cheapen what you are doing, Ayanami. It takes more than 'not having anything else' to save the world."

The girl did not say anything else and after a few seconds of silence a new com link was opened.

A very determined Misato appeared.

"Get in position you two. Shinji, we entrust you with the power of the entire nation of Japan. I'm counting on you."

"Roger." He said and focused his attention on his target, the conversation with Rei already far from his mind. They were already stationed on Mount Futago and EVA 01 was lying behind the Positron cannon, ready to deliver a deadly stream of energy.

After a lot of techno babble that he did not care about the countdown finally started.

"High energy output detected inside the target!" reported one of the technicians he still did not know the name of, and he cursed silently. The computer was still trying to get a lock on the angel.

"FIRE!" shouted Misato over the com just as the computer locked on.

Shinji immediately pulled the trigger and a beam of energy shot towards the angel, only to warp around a similar beam, which had been sent their way. Both beams missed their target and reduced several hectares of wood to ashes.

"We are detecting another high energy reading inside the target"

The next moment Shinji saw the beam of highly focused energy heading his way and he closed his eyes to prepare for the pain.

It did not come though, and he opened them again. Around him everything was lit brightly, but Unit 00 was protecting him with the shield.

He thanked her silently and waited in frustration until the rifle was fully recharged.

Already Rei's shield was melting and he still had another 10 seconds to wait.

'Hold on Rei!' he thought while the timer counted down.

Finally the rifle was ready and he pressed the trigger.

This time his shot hit the angel dead on, and immediately his surroundings became dark once again.

He had won, but that was the farthest thing from his mind. Unit 00 had crashed to the ground; it's from partly melted in several places. Quickly he pried open the hatch to the entry plug and took out the plug itself.

He exited his EVA and ran to the entry plug as fast as humanly possible. From up close it looked even worse and he quickly pried open the hatch with a single try. The hot metal under his hands did not even register on his senses.

He poked his head into the plug and found Rei lying limply in her seat.

"Ayanami!"

To his relief, the girl stirred and he felt his eyes tearing up a little.

"Why are you crying?" she asked and Shinji produced something that should have been laugher but came out more choked.

"I'm just happy you're ok Ayanami."

"I am sorry, but I do not know how to act in such a situation."

"You could try smiling."

When she finally did, Shinji could not help but smile as well.

"I owe you one now, Ayanami. Thanks for protecting me."

Surprisingly, Rei's smile widened some more and even though the girl stayed silent she acknowledged his thanks with a nod.

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Lex Luthor shone his flashlight into the inky darkness of the apartment. It had taken very little effort to find it. He knew that it was more or less suicide to be on the surface with the angel about, but a better opportunity to scour out Chloe's apartment would not present itself anytime soon and so he had taken this one.

Making his way further into the apartment he spotted Chloe's laptop and smiled. It had still some juice left in its batteries and he turned it on. The glow from the screen bathed the apartment in an eerie light, but Lex shook of his uneasiness and waited for the laptop to boot up.

Unsurprisingly a password request flashed over the screen a moment later.

Lex did not even hesitate before pulling out a small rectangular device out of his pocket and connecting it to the laptop. He did not know how it worked or what it was called, but what was important was that it easily hacked the password and he was in the system.

'Another wonderful piece of equipment brought to you from Lexcorp!' he thought amusedly while quickly flipping trough Chloe's files.

It was a good thing Chloe was such a neat freak when it came to her job. It made finding her last job assignment very easy. Pulling out a disk he copied the file and everything regarding her current job and powered the computer down.

As he stood up a flash of light caught his attention and he walked over to the window. In the opposite building someone was snooping around with a flashlight as well. Noticing the binoculars lying next to the window Lex was pretty sure he knew just who it was.

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At the same time Chloe was indeed rummaging through the apartment of Misato Katsuragi, or more specifically, Shinji Ikari's room. Her reasons for being there now were almost the same as Lex': No one was around to notice.

So far her little adventure had been anything but productive. She had turned over all of his belongings, yet none of them proofed even vaguely interesting. That was frustrating because she had been so sure to find something after watching the kid grow over 14 inches from skinny little teenager to muscle packed man in less then 2 weeks..

Yet, it seemed the most interesting thing Shinji Ikari had, was himself.

Sighing she gave up her futile search and made her way out of the apartment. It seemed finding his mother really was her only chance to find out more.

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Shinji watched with trepidation as Misato's blue sports car spun perfectly into the parking lot.

Today was parent-teacher meeting and because Gendo did not acknowledge him as his son anyway, Misato had agreed to go.

Shinji found that a very nice thing to do and had liked the idea very much…until he remembered his friends. Toji and Kensuke had yet to learn he was living with the same 'hot babe' who had dressed them down for being out of the shelter during a fight.

Shinji just knew he would not hear the end of it once they found out.

Misato's car opened and a long slender leg emerged from the door, followed by a second one.

With a graceful movement the rest of Misato followed and Shinji sighed. He was not a pervert, but even he had to admit that his guardian looked pretty darn sexy in miniskirt, blouse and vest.

Needless to say his friends' reaction was easy to predict.

"OOOH MAMA! WHAT A BABE!" exclaimed Toji

"Hey! She's this babe who screamed at us after we got out of the entry plug, remember?" observed Kensuke.

"IKARI! Why didn't you tell us you were living with HER!" screamed Toji right into his face.

Shinji wiped away some of the spittle that hit him and sighed again.

"Because I knew you would react like that."

"She is SO HOT!" exclaimed Kensuke again, who was still filming his 'purple haired goddess'.

"Dammit Ikari, you're so darn lucky. Did you ask her out?"

"She's my guardian and twice my age, of course I didn't."

"How can you…" started Toji ranting again and Shinji tuned him out.

"Hikari, please, please, please make them shut up! I'll do anything for you!" he begged as he fell to his knees before the class representative.

Hikari, who had also been watching Misato's entrance nearby, blushed bright red when thinking about what 'anything meant', but giggled after a moment.

"Since you are asking so nicely Shinji-kun." She said good-naturedly only to change her tone all of a sudden, "Suzuhura-kun, Aida-kun. If you do not stop this behaviour at once you will be on cleanup duty for the next two weeks."

That shut the two up pretty quickly and Toji gave Shinji a baleful look.

"No fair, getting the class rep on your side!"

Shinji merely smirked at him.

"Shinji-kun!" said Hikari in a sugary sweet voice from behind him and suddenly his smile vanished.

"Ahh…yes."

"I do believe you promised to do everything, right?"

Shinji only nodded.

"Good, I would like you to accompany Laura and myself on out shopping tour today."

At that moment Shinji did not need to see his own face to know he looked horrified. He still had nightmares from the last shopping spree Hikari had convinced him to.

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"So, how is Shinji-kun doing in school?" started Misato the moment Lana and her were seated for their meeting.

"His grades are very good and he is doing his homework. There isn't really anything that would warrant this interview."

Misato nodded.

"Good to hear that. I would like to ask you something, though. Did you notice any abnormal behaviour from Shinji since you met him?"

Lana shook her head.

"Aside from the fact that he is the second most introverted person I have ever met and the fact that he has grown 14 inches in under 2 weeks, no."

"Who's the most introverted person you met?" asked Misato curiosity getting the better of her.

"Rei Ayanami, of course. It's Curious that only NERV pilots are like that. Is it a necessity for the job?"

Misato laughed when remembering a certain redhead form Gemany and shook her head.

"Believe me, it isn't."

Catching herself again, Misato came back to her original question.

"Are you really sure nothing out of the ordinary has happened? Like Shinji disappearing without a trace."

Lana raised an eyebrow. _This_ was awfully familiar.

"No. I can tell you think he is hiding something, Ms. Katsuragi, and you are probably right, but I suggest you leave this secret to rest in peace."

"And why is that?"

"Always trying to find out the truth has been the death for my relationship with Clark" the teacher said, seemingly to herself, "It may be the death for your friendship as well."

"Anyway, I believe that's all there is to say. Have a nice day Ms. Katsuragi" said Lana all chipper again and dismissed her.

"A nice day to you as well." said Misato, obviously deep in thought.

Once she was alone in her office again Lana rubbed her temples. She was absolutely sure that Misato would not listen to her advice and she was also starting to realize that Shinji was not a normal boy by any stretch of the imagination.

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Misato regarded Shinji's back as he worked on the sink. From this position one could almost believe a full grown man was doing the dishes and not some teenager. The conversation with Lana Lang was still weighing on her mind and she could not get what the woman had said out of her mind. Something told her that 'Clark', whoever he was, played a part in this and Misato trusted her instincts.

"Shinji-kun, have you ever heard of someone named Clark?" she asked casually.

"No, should I?" came the boy's neutral reply, but Misato had detected his hesitation.

"Not really. You teacher mentioned him when talking about you. Seems you two have some similarities." She said lightly, while internally thinking that she had to find out more about the guy.

"I'm going to bed now." She said, knowing full well she would be awake at least another 2 hours.

The moment Misato was gone Shinji finished the last dishes in under a second and sped to his room to get his jacket and from there out the door. Kensuke was probably still awake and this was very important.

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End file.
